Morgan Hill man released after investigation
Morgan Hill – A Morgan Hill man and student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., was released from the Allegheny County Jail Nov. 8 and a charge of criminal conspiracy was dropped after investigation by local officials revealed he and a fellow student were not attempting to blow up an NFL football stadium.
Anand Durvasula, 20, and Sudeep Paul, 21, of New York, were arrested Nov. 5 after trying to break into Heinz Field, the home stadium of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team; the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force were involved, and $1 million bond was set for each of the young men.
Now they have been released and are being considered “pranksters” instead of “terrorists.”
According to Mike Mako, spokesperson for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force have “washed their hands of the case'” and the incident is not considered to be related to terrorism.
The two were arrested in the early morning hours of Nov. 5 when security guards at Heinz Field saw them walking around the entrances to the field, and saw Durvasula at one point scale a fence at the complex.
A Lexus sport utility they drove to the stadium in was found nearby, with a video camera and tripod inside. Though four explosive detecting dogs were brought on to the scene, as well as officers from the joint Terrorism Task Force, no explosive devices were found.
Durvasula and Paul initially told police they had tickets for the Steelers game later that day and had gone to the stadium so they would know where to go for the game. Later, police learned Paul is a film student, and the pair were hoping to film the last part of a music video featuring Durvasula on Heinz Field.
The two students are scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 29 for a hearing, Mako said.
